Building Zoids in a World of Titans

Alex pushed through the workshop door with his shoulder, the canvas sack in his arms heavier than it looked. The clink of metal on metal announced his arrival before he could.

Borin looked up from a vice where he was straightening a bent actuator. Ziya paused mid-reach for a shelf of calibrated fasteners.

"That better not be what I think it is," Ziya said.

Alex set the sack on the main workbench. The canvas sagged under its own weight, and the neck fell open to reveal stacks of Sols, still banded from the guild treasury. Not all three hundred and forty thousand, but enough to make Borin's eyebrows climb toward his hairline.

"First transfer," Alex said. "The rest follows when I sign the formal agreement."

Borin set down his tools and walked over. He didn't touch the money, just looked at it, then at Alex.

"You actually did it."

"I told you I would."

"You told us you were going to negotiate." Borin picked up one of the stacks, testing its weight. "There's a difference between negotiating and walking out with enough Sols to buy half the district."

Alex let himself feel it, just for a moment. The satisfaction of having something to show for years of scrap and silence. He hadn't earned this the easy way. He'd earned it by building a machine that killed a B-rank Titan while the city watched.

"I had a good pitch," he said.

Ziya crossed her arms, but the corner of her mouth was twitching. "How good, exactly?"

"Three hundred and forty thousand Sols. A dedicated workshop at the old salvage yard on the north perimeter. Salvage rights on anything I kill during development. Design authority stays with me."

Borin let out a low whistle. "And she just handed that over?"

"She negotiated me down from four hundred."

"Down," Ziya repeated. "He calls it down."

Alex shrugged. "I held firm on the important parts."

"And the Foreman?" Borin asked.

"She still wants the Zoids. But she agreed to my terms." Alex paused. "She also warned me not to make her regret it."

"Sound advice."

"I don't plan to."

Borin looked at the Sols again. Then he looked at Alex with an expression that was part pride, part disbelief. "Five years I watched you come into my shop for scrap and credit. Five years Ziya told me you had something going. And now you're standing here with a government contract and enough money to buy a whole new workshop."

He clapped a heavy hand on Alex's shoulder.

"I'll be damned."

Alex allowed himself a small smile. "You'll also be employed, if you want."

Borin's hand stopped. "What?"

"I'm building multiple Zoids. The Arosaurer took me five years because I did everything alone. I don't have five years this time." Alex met Borin's gaze. "I need help. Skilled help. Your craftsmen know how to work Titan materials. I'll handle the core and the critical systems, but I can't forge a full chassis, wire the power conduits, and assemble the hydraulics all at once."

"You're asking me to let my people work on your Zoids?"

"I'm asking you to run the production line while I handle the engineering."

Borin was quiet for a long moment. Then the grin broke across his face like sunlight through clouds. "Alex, my boy. You just made my entire year."

"I haven't made anything yet. The parts still need to be—"

"Let me have this." Borin held up a hand. "I've been running a supply shop for two decades. Selling parts to other people who build things. And now the quietest, strangest customer I've ever had is asking me to help build the city's new defense fleet."

He shook his head slowly.

"I'm in. Whatever you need. My people, my tools, my space. Just tell me what to build."

Borin's grin stayed put, and Alex felt something loosen in his chest that he hadn't realized was tight.

"Good," Alex said. "Because I need a lot of things I can't build alone."

"Name it."

"Fabricators. A proper forge. Enough Titan-grade alloy to frame two Zoids without cutting corners." He paused. "And a secure room for core assembly. No windows. No unescorted access."

Borin raised an eyebrow. "You trust me that much?"

"You trusted me first."

Ziya stepped closer, her gaze sharp. "And the technology sharing concern? You were ready to burn the shop down before letting anyone touch the Arosaurer's internals."

Alex considered the question.

He had spent five years terrified that someone would steal his work. That the System's blueprints would be reverse-engineered. That the moment he showed what he could do, the secret would slip through his fingers and end up in someone else's hands.

But standing here now, with the contract signed and the Sols counted, that fear felt different. Smaller. Almost childish.

"I'm not worried anymore," he said.

Ziya raised an eyebrow. "That's new."

"Think about it. Even if someone watches every step of the process, they're still years behind. I have the designs. I have the core methods. And I'm not stopping at one Zoid." He gestured at the sack of Sols. "By the time anyone figures out how I built the Arosaurer, I'll have built something better. And by the time they catch up to that, I'll have moved on again."

He met Ziya's eyes.

"They can learn how to make Zoids. They can't learn how to make mine."

Borin let out a bark of laughter. "Listen to him. Talking like he's already three designs ahead."

"Aren't I?"

"You don't know that."

"I know the next chassis is already drafted. And the one after that is in my head." Alex touched the Z-Bracer on his arm. "The Liger core taught me things the Arosaurer couldn't. I'm not going to waste that knowledge."

Ziya studied him for a moment. Then she shook her head, a smile breaking through her usual composure.

"You're impossible."

"Impossible, or efficient?"

"There's a difference?"

"I'm both," Alex said. "That's the point."

Ziya leaned against the workbench, arms folded.

"So," she said, "you have a budget and a workshop and a deal with the Foreman. Do you actually have a design in mind for what you're building?"

Alex considered the question. He had two blueprints already unlocked and waiting. The Liger Zero frame demanded the Stormclaw core he'd already synthesized. The Lanstag needed the Timber-Crest Bull components he'd been stockpiling.

"Two Zoids," he said. "The Liger Zero and the Lanstag. Those are mine. They go in my collection."

Borin raised an eyebrow. "And the city gets what, exactly?"

"The rest of the budget." Alex tapped the sack of Sols. "I build them first. Then I figure out what Veridia needs."

"You're spending most of the money on your own machines?"

"I'm investing in the platform. Once the Liger Zero is operational, I'll have a baseline for mass production. The designs I hand over to the city won't be prototypes. They'll be proven."

Ziya tilted her head. "That's almost strategic."

"I have my moments."

"But you haven't decided what to build for the city yet."

Alex let the silence stretch. He'd been turning the problem over since leaving the Foreman's office. The Zoids for Veridia needed to be easy to manufacture. Cost-effective. Reliable enough for pilots who wouldn't have his level of system integration.

He thought about the old lore of Zoids from Earth. The wars in the Zoids canon had been constant, grinding affairs fought with machines that prioritized production numbers over individual performance. The Helic Republic had understood this better than most.

The Godos.

A small Allosaur-type Zoid. Nothing flashy. Nothing that would win a beauty contest. But the lore had called it the "mini Gojulas" for a reason. It carried well-balanced armament, decent melee capability, and a chassis that could be cranked out in numbers that made larger nations sweat.

And the area around Veridia was thick with Allosaur-type Titans.

A Godos would fit the region's resources. The components would be easy to source. The manufacturing process would be simpler than the Arosaurer's custom frame.

He just needed the blueprint first.

"I have an idea," Alex said. "But I need to hunt more Allosaur-type Titans before I can finalize it."

Borin frowned. "You planning to take on a herd of Allosaurs by yourself?"

"With the Arosaurer? I could handle a few."

"A few isn't going to give you what you need." Ziya's voice was flat. "You're talking about processing multiple Titan carcasses. That means transport. Support. People to watch your back while you're focused on the kill."

Alex opened his mouth. Then closed it.

She was right.

He'd spent so long working alone that the thought hadn't crossed his mind. But hunting Allosaurs wasn't like testing a prototype in the forest. He needed to bring bodies back. Whole carcasses, or close to it. That meant a team.

He grumbled under his breath.

"Did you say something?" Borin asked.

"I said I don't like asking for help."

"Noted. You still need it."

Ziya uncrossed her arms. "You could ask the Celestia team. You already worked with them. They know what you're capable of, and they owe you after the Liger."

Alex considered it.

Anya. Fia. Lyra. Seraphine.

He knew them. They'd fought together. They'd seen the Arosaurer in action and hadn't tried to take it from him.

"I'll think about it," he said.

"That's not a no."

"It's also not a yes."

Ziya smiled. "Progress."